World T20: Indian women suffer their 2nd loss

Sylhet: Indian women's team produced a listless batting performance as they suffered a five-wicket loss at the hands of England to slump to their second consecutive defeat in the Women's World Twenty20 here today.

Electing to bat, Indian women could only score 95 for nine in their allotted 20 overs with captain Mithali Raj being the only substantial scorer with a 56-ball 57. England chased down the target with 11 balls to spare at the Sylhet Stadium.

None of the England batswomen scored big and they were struggling at 34 for two in the sixth over but in the end the small target ensured that they won the match without much fuss as they reached 98 for five in 18.1 overs.

Opener Sarah Taylor top-scored for England with a 29-ball 28 while Lydia Greenway contributed 26. For India, Soniya Dabir grabbed two wickets for 21 runs while Jhulan Goswami and Poonam Yadav got a wicket each. With today's loss, India will find it difficult to qualify for the semifinals as they are yet to open account after two matches.

They had lost to Sri Lanka by 22 runs in their campaign opener. England, the last edition runners-up, are on two points after a win and a loss. Earlier, India's over dependence on captain Raj (57) showed as none of her batting colleagues could contribute for the team cause.

Raj scored more than half of the team total, hitting eight fours in her 56-ball knock. Sravanthi Naidu was the next highest scorer with a 27-ball 11 while. None of the remaining Indian batswomen could reach double digit scores.

It was a procession of sorts back to the dressing room by the Indian batswomen, with a brief resistance during a 47-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Raj and Naidu. The partnership ended in the 17th over with the dismissal of Raj as India were reduced to 78 for six. Naidu was out in the 19th over at team total of 88 for eight.

For England, pacers Anya Shrubsole and Jenny Gunn grabbed three wickets each while Rebecca Grundy and Georgia Elwiss chipped in with a wicket apiece.